1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to outdoor grills, smokers and cooking structures for cooking foods on a grill, grate, rack or foraminous surface located directly above a combustible fuel on a fuel-supporting grate. This invention also relates to outdoor grills, smokers and other cooking structures for cooking foods on a grill, grate, rack or foraminous surface heated indirectly by convection heating from an externally affixed firebox.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Outdoor smokers and barbecue grills generally include a housing which contains in a lower portion thereof, a grate, plate, pan or other supporting structure upon which the charcoal briquettes or other fuel is supported. A foraminous grill, grate or rack is used to support food to be cooked over the fuel. There is often provided a dome or hood which can be lifted up or pivoted to an open position to permit the cook to have access to the food. Usually, when the hood is opened the food remains in the same position over the fuel, with the result that the hot combustion gases from the fuel exit the housing upwardly striking the hands, arms and face of the cook and bystanders. The smoke formed from the food or the fuel also exits upwardly causing discomfort to the cook and bystanders. There is also a large heat loss every time the hood is opened which results in extended cooking times and increased consumption of fuel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,118 to Rinehart depicts an outdoor grill mounted on a stationary standard. The grill has a hinged housing through which fuel must be added to the fuel-supporting grate and a horizontally reciprocating food-supporting tray, mounted on tracks inside the housing, which permits inspection of food without opening the hinged housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,161,669 to Raymond shows a portable broiler having a pull out ash drawer over which fuel is mounted, with the fuel-supporting grate disposed below a food-supporting grate or grill at the upper side of the broiler. The food-supporting grate is only vertically extractable and must be removed to permit addition of the combustible fuel onto a fuel-supporting grate located beneath food-supporting grate. The ash drawer moves on tracks constituted by angle iron strips, and carries a large, vertically extending, front wall or plate which closes an opening in the broiler at the time that the ash drawer is pushed into the main housing of the broiler.
A similar ash drawer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,080 to Adey. In the Adey patent, a housing is mounted on the upper side of a framework, having a single pair of wheels mounted thereon, and includes a food-supporting grill located over the ash drawer. A dome or hood is mounted over this food-supporting grill. The food-supporting grill appears not to be movable, except possibly upwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,706 to Cardwell shows a charcoal-retaining grid which is removable from the inside of a housing. The grid is slidably retained on rails. This system also has a food pan which can be pulled outwardly upon supporting rails by means of an outwardly projecting handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,151,609 to Hastings includes a pair of trays which can be slid horizontally into and out of a charcoal cooker housing but which requires first opening a side panel to permit horizontal extraction of the trays from within the housing. The firebox which supports the charcoal does not appear to be removable from this housing. The firebox is positioned at an elevation within the charcoal cooker housing which is higher than the trays which are removable, thus indicating the movable trays are not cooking surfaces. A spit or grate is used for supporting the food so as to expose it to a source of heat located therebelow in the firebox within the charcoal cooker housing. This grate appears to be removable only by vertically lifting the tray, after a dome or hood has been pivoted upwardly about a hinge connecting it to the base portion of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,380,444 to Stalker illustrates a transportable cooking apparatus which includes a drawer used for containing charcoal briquettes. This drawer is horizontally outwardly extractable on rails or tracks to permit addition or removal of the charcoal. A food-supporting grill or grate can be placed in position over the charcoal drawer, but this grill cannot be slidably removed from the cooker housing. A hood or dome is hingedly connected to a base portion of the housing for pivotation about a horizontal axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,396 to Koziol depicts a pole mounted outdoor grill having a foraminous food-supporting surface affixed to the body of the grill by a ball and socket arrangement. The ball and socket arrangement permits the food-supporting surface to pivot upwardly and rotate 180.degree. to interchange the orientation of the upper and lower surfaces of the food-supporting surface relative to the fuel-supporting surface in the lower portion of the grill housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,093 to Griscom depicts a grill which has a housing slidably attached to an upper surface of a standard having a single pair of wheels affixed thereto. A fuel-supporting tray is also slidably mounted to the upper surface of the standard and supports a vertically extractable foraminous food-supporting grate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,734 to Elliott depicts a portable grill, designed for outdoor or indoor use, with a stationary standard and a grill housing having a removable hood. The vertically removable grill is supported in the housing by integral interior lips which maintain the grill above combustible fuel in bottom of the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,877 to Beard depicts a barbecue grill in which operation of a handle causes the hinged lid of the grill to rise, the food-supporting surface to slidably exit the interior of the grill housing, and the hinged lid to close.
In general, the prior art described above is not thought to include, in an outdoor smoker and grill, a fixed-body housing having a horizontally reciprocating fuel-supporting surface in the lower portion of the housing and a foraminous-type, food-supporting assembly pivotably mounted permitting the food-supporting assembly to be horizontally pivoted outwardly from the housing without interruption of venting of hot combustion gases and smoke through the chimney to the atmosphere.